Crews have been assigned to begin training for three
International Space Station missions. The missions,
scheduled for late 2003 and early 2004, will continue
Station assembly and rotate expedition crews.

STS-118, with a six-member crew, is slated for launch in
November 2003. STS-119 will follow with 10 crewmembers,
including Expedition Nine traveling to the Station and
Expedition Eight returning to Earth.

STS-120, scheduled for launch in early 2004, has six
crewmembers that will deliver the U.S. Node Two, marking
completion of the U.S. Core assembly.

Scott J. Kelly (Cmdr., USN) will command the crew of STS-
118, and Charles O. Hobaugh (Lt. Col., USMC) will be the
pilot. Veteran astronauts Scott E. Parazynski (M.D.) and
Dafydd (Dave) R. Williams (M.D., Canadian Space Agency) will
be returning to space for their fifth and second missions,
respectively. Barbara R. Morgan, the first Educator
Astronaut, and Lisa M. Nowak (Cmdr., USN) round out the crew
as mission specialists.

Kelly made his first flight aboard STS-103 in 1999 as the
pilot, and he trained as a backup flight engineer for
Expedition Five. Hobaugh served as the pilot on STS-104 in
2001. Parazynski’s previous missions are STS-66 in 1994,
STS-86 in 1997, STS-95 in 1998, and STS-100 in 2001.
Williams flew aboard STS- 90 in 1998. Morgan and Nowak will
make their first trips into space.

Veteran mission commander Steven W. Lindsey (Col., USAF)
leads STS-119. The mission’s pilot will be Mark E. Kelly
(Cmdr., USN) with mission specialists Michael L. Gernhardt
(Ph.D.) and Carlos I. Noriega (Lt. Col., USMC, ret.).

Lindsey flew as the pilot on STS-87 in 1997 and STS-95 in
1998, and as mission commander aboard STS-104 in 2001. Kelly
will be on his second Shuttle mission, having flown on STS-
108 in 2001. Gernhardt will make his fifth mission to space.
He served as a mission specialist on STS-69 in 1995, STS-83
in 1997, STS-94 in 1997, and STS-104 in 2001. Noriega was a
mission specialist on STS-84 in 1997 and STS-97 in 2000, and
he trained as the backup commander for Expedition Six.

Expedition Eight commander C. Michael Foale (Ph.D.), flight
engineers William S. McArthur (Col., USA, ret.) and
cosmonaut Valery I. Tokarev (Col., Russian Air Force), will
return from their stay aboard the Station.

Expedition Nine, Station commander Gennadi I. Padalka (Col.,
Russian Air Force), flight engineers E. Michael Fincke (Lt.
Col., USAF) and cosmonaut Oleg D. Kononenko will travel to
their home in space aboard STS-119.

STS-120 will have veteran commander James D. Halsell (Col.,
USAF), returning from Kennedy Space Center, leading the
mission, and first-time flyer Alan G. Poindexter (Cmdr.,
USN) as pilot. Wendy B. Lawrence (Capt., USN), Piers J.
Sellers (Ph.D.), Stephanie D. Wilson and Michael J. Foreman
(Capt., USN) will serve as mission specialists.

Halsell was the pilot for STS-65 in 1994 and STS-74 in 1995,
and mission commander for STS-83 in 1997, STS-94 in 1997,
and STS-101 in 2000. Poindexter is a member of the 1998
class of astronauts. Lawrence previously flew aboard STS-67
in 1995, STS-86 in 1997, and STS-91 in 1998, while Sellers
has one previous flight, STS-112, earlier this year. Wilson
and Foreman will make their first trips into space.

For complete biographical information on the STS-118, STS-
119, STS-120, Expedition Eight and Nine crews, and other
active astronauts, see the NASA Internet biography page:

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/astrobio_activedef.html

For information about current and former astronauts, visit
the Astronaut Biography page:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios